XI JIN PING ERA, THE FULFILMENT OF CHINA DREAM

BY FRANCIS C W FUNG, PH.D.

Two recent excellent China watch articles by Western expats passed Western media
with intentionally little attention are very informative and important China
development news. They are must read articles by those interested in China future.
The first article by Robert Lawrence Kuhn is aptly titled Xis grand vision of new
diplomacy. In the article he summarized Chinas New Diplomacy as follows.
There is now, at this particular point of time, an inflection point occurring in
Chinas diplomacy, as country changes from being reactive to proactive in its
international relations. Future historian may characterize this transformation as one
of the defining geopolitical trends of the first half of the 21 st century. China, Xi said,
should conduct diplomacy as a great power in an increasingly multipolar world,
making friends and forming partnership networks throughout the world and striving
to gain more understanding and support from all countries for the Chinese Dream.
China cannot compete for global leadership with power alone. Economic and
military strength, while necessary, are not sufficient. There must also be moral and
ethical aspects to Chinas rise. China, Xi asserted, should see to it that equal
importance is attached to justice and benefits, stress faithfulness, value friendship,
carry forward righteousness, and foster ethics, as Xi extoled the nation to adhere to
the 8 socialist core values. Xi insightfully proclaimed In todays world, the real
conflict is not between opposing political systems but rather between the forces of
modernity, competence and development on the one hand, and those of ignorance,
exploitation and oppression on the other. China will continually rise peacefully
based on this principle to lead the world to common prosperity and
harmony(Confucian ideal Da Tong).
Kuhn continued, For its part, the U.S. should reject the Cold War mentality of
containing China as being both archaic and self-defeating. Politico economic
theories constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries have little utility in the 21st
century, where most nations optimize free markets and government regulation that
by nature can be neither generalized nor static.
In an article titled Chinas Grand Strategy: The New Silk Road, David Gosset
summarized that The contrast is striking: on one side, the 2016 U.S. presidential
elections are already absorbing Washington's energy, the European Union is in an
urgent need of decisive leadership and a series of severe crises are eroding Russia's
power. On the other side, China, rapidly regaining a position of centrality, is
developing a new grand strategy with a global vision. Far from being an empty
rhetorical effect, Xi Jinping's New Silk Road will not only be one of the most

discussed topics of 2015, but it will profoundly mark China's coming decade and
reshape Eurasia.

"Global China is certainly one of the features defining the Chinese renaissance, the
country's opening up creates conditions in which the world impacts the Chinese
society but an open China projects also herself globally, Xi's New Silk Road vision,
reminiscent of the Tang dynasty's dynamics, illustrates this movement. The People's
Republic of China, soon the world's largest economy, is aware that with power
comes responsibility -- and vice versa. In a sense, the New Silk Road can be
understood as a Marshall Plan with Chinese characteristics, it reassures the Middle
Country's neighbors, contributes to their growth and places them in a system
designed by Beijing. Xi's grand diplomacy has the advantage to envelop China's
West, Xinjiang, one sixth of China's territory, de facto at the center of the Eurasian
continent, is a key element of the Silk Road Economic Belt. Infrastructure projects,
trade, innovative public/private partnerships will transform China's most Western
region into an international platform and take it simultaneously closer to Shanghai,
Turkey and Europe. It would be for China's first trading partner, the European
Union, strategic blindness to miss the opportunities offered by Xi's proposal, a vision
whose scope goes far beyond the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. 2015, year of
the 40th anniversary of the China-EU relations, can mark a new departure for the
relations between the two edges of Eurasia.
Gosset emphasized A Sino-European Silk Road Fund could be a complementary
mechanism to finance large projects -- from infrastructure to education -- serving
the shared vision of a peaceful and prosperous Eurasia. An ambitious trade
agreement between the EU and China would complement the efforts to facilitate
commercial exchanges across the Atlantic and across the Pacific. Italy, where the
Silk Road has a unique significance, Germany, the country of Ferdinand Richthofen
the geographer who coined the term "Seidenstrasse" and France, especially apt to
conceive a bold and independent policy toward China, can push the European Union
to seize the New Silk Road moment. Rome, Berlin and Paris will certainly get the full
support of Eastern Europe whose history and culture are, through the Eurasian
continuities, connected with Central Asia.
Gosset continued, Eurasia is under the immediate threat of a territorialized
terrorism that will not be defeated with drones, killing machines which, on the
contrary, generate infinite hatred and fuel radicalism. The New Silk Road,
addressing the long term needs of economic and social progress, creates the
conditions to eliminate the roots of extremism. Fully embraced by the European
Union and other Eurasian actors, the New Silk Road will take 65 percent of the world
population toward an unprecedented level of cohesiveness and prosperity. Following
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the "China Dream" mainly articulated for the Chinese people, Xi Jinping proposes a
humanistic vision of progress which goes beyond national interests, based on
China's own experience of material development and inspired by the Chinese sense
of universalism, Da Tong, or Grand Harmony, the New Silk Road is "Eurasia's
Dream", a dream we can pursue together.
As the greatest contemporary leader of China, Xi Jinping has accomplished what are
necessary to fulfil the China dream and China renaissance. To illustrate his
accomplishments during his service as President we can summarize as follows:
1) Launched the socialist 8 core moral values campaign as discussed previously
to guide the nation on a spiritual path.
2) Launched the China rejuvenation movement by restoring Confucian culture
and harmony renaissance.
3) Launched an effective anticorruption campaign that imprisons tigers, swaps
flies and hunts foxes.
4) Continuing reform and open up on the road of socialism with Chinese
characteristics to bring the nation to overall well- being and higher quality of
life.
5) Launched rule of law reform by expanding amendment to the constitution
and follow through with implementation.
6) As mentioned previously initiated the one belt and one road strategy to
modernize the ancient overland silk road and the ocean silk road. This grand
project will connect Asia-Europe-Africa into one common development zone.
It will provide connectivity and modern communication to landlocked
developing countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, South East Asia and
Africa for fast development. China will provide funding, internet and fast train
technologies as well as skilled labor all over the world. 50 countries have
signed up to participate including developed countries, Russia, Germany and
Italy. It will be more grand than the American Marshall plan, which the U.S.
was very proud of that helped Europe rebuilt after the Second World War. See
David Gosset paper above for more details.
7) Announced the grand vision of new diplomacy for major powers. Xi
insightfully proclaimed In todays world, the real conflict is not between
opposing political systems but rather between the forces of modernity,
competence and development on the one hand, and those of ignorance,
exploitation and oppression on the other. China will continually rise
peacefully based on this principle to lead the world to common prosperity and
harmony (Confucian ideal Da Tong). See Robert Kuhn paper above for more
details.
At age 75 I have lived through the humiliating years of China occupation by
European colonial powers after the Opium War; the Japanese war and occupation
China suffered because she was behind Japan in industrialization; the civil war
between the nationalist and the communists. Victory by the communists liberated
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the Chinese peasants and women from oppression. However in her eagerness to
modernize the cultural revolution fermented by the red guards caused chaos and
set back china by two decades in her search for modernization. After thirty years of
reform and open up under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, China finally regained
her position as the worlds greatest trading nation which she occupied for most of
human history except the last 300 years of 20th century. Today China also rise to
become the worlds leading economic power surpassing the U.S. by purchasing
power calculation. Once she was the most improvised nation occupied by European
power after the Opium War.
Under Xi Jinpings great leadership I now feel most fortunate to live to see the
coming of the best historical moment in China history as suggested by David Gosset
and Robert Kuhn in the previous important papers. There were two critical thoughts
by the two greatest leaders of modern China that set the background of Chinas
modern peaceful rise. Both Deng Xiao Ping and Xi Jinping seized the opportunity to
lead China to peaceful rise because they foresee that first, development is the path
not war and according to Xi Jinping In todays world, the real conflict is not between
opposing political systems but rather between the forces of modernity, competence
and development on the one hand, and those of ignorance, exploitation and
oppression on the other. Both of these principles will continue Chinas peaceful
rise for world common development for the foreseeable future. Now we have
arrived at the best historical moment to be Chinese to help build China dream and
China renaissance!
Announcement: Should there be any interest to produce Xi Jinping Era epic
document film based on mutual interest, kindly contact Francis C W Fung, Director
General, World harmony Organization by email at fung.geneius@gmail .com

Francis C W Fung, Ph.D.

Director General
World Harmony Organization
San Francisco, CA